Tongue-support for vehicles.



J. M. PENN.

TONGUE SUPPORT FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 9. I9I5.

Patented May 7,1918.

llllllllllllllIlII NV ENTOH W NESSES ATTORNEY j BY TATE PATENT v JOHN M. PENN, or BED OAK, IOWA.

" TONGUE-SUPPORT ron VEHICLES.

1,265,503. Specification of Letters Patent. p t t May 7, 1913,

Application filed October 9, 1915. Serial No. 55,029.

, To all whom it may concern.

1% it known that I, JOHN M. PENN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Red Oak, in the county of Montgomery and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tongue-Supports for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to tongue supports for vehicles and more particularly to an adjustable spring support for wagon tongues.

Thev primary object of my invention resides in the provision of a novel supporting means for resiliently maintaining a wagon tongue, in position on a vehicle.

. Another object of my invention resides in the provision of a novel clamping means for association with a tongue and resilient supporting means for maintaining the tongue in various adjusted positions as well as resilient connecting means between the clamping means and resilient supporting means for maintaining the tongue in a horizontal position when the wagon and team are on a level and permitting the tongue to be either raised or-lowered as will be necessary when starting therefor Fig.2 is a side elevational view of my invention associated with a vehicle and a tongue therefor;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the clamping means;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the connecting bar.

. Referring more particularly to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designate like or corresponding parts throughout the difierent views, I provide an axle 1, the respective ends of which have supporting wheels 2 rotatably associated therewith. Hounds 3 extend forwardly of the axle and have a tongue l pivotally connected thereto through the medium of angle brackets 5 and a nut and bolt arrangement 6, the opposite end of the brackets being rigidly connected to the hounds through the medium of suitable fastening devices 7. A whiffletree clip 8 has one end connected to the upper surface of the tongue adjacent the hounds and has its free end offset and adapted to pivotally connect a draft device to the tongue.

For the purpose of resiliently supporting the tongue, I have provided my improved resilient means in this instance comprising an elliptical spring 9 formed preferably of a plurality of superposed sections, the outer end of the spring ha *ing a hinge section pivotally connected thereto through the medium of a suitable pin 10, the hinged section being rigidly connected through the medium of suitable fastening devices 11 to the under surface of the tongue slightly in advance of the point at which a draft device is attached. The opposite end of the spring 9 is supported in slidable engagement with the under surface of the axle 11 through the medium of a suitable strap 12, carried by the under surface of the axle 1.

In order to adjustably control the tension of the spring 9 with respect to the tongue at, I have provided my improved clamping means in this instance including similarly formed side bars 13, the upper ends of which are rounded and screw threaded as illus trated by the numeral 14:, the opposite ends being offset to provide spring engaging portions 15. These bars 13 are arranged upon opposite sides of the inner end of the tongue slightly in the rear of the whilfletree clip 8, and have engaged about their screw threaded ends suitable adjusting elements preferably nuts 16, which support a strap 17. This strap is bent upwardly intermediate its ends and is arranged to abut the under surface of the tongue and the bars have further associated therewith another strap 18 which is arranged about the screw threaded ends 14:, the latter also receiving suitable fastening elements, preferably nuts 19. The nuts are adjusted so that the straps 17 and 18 are arranged in substantially rigid engagement with the tongue. The spring engaging portions 15 are provided with spaced openings adjacent their lower ends through which pass bolts 20, the shanks of the bolts having sleeve rollers 21 rotatably associated therewith which rollers are incidentally arranged respectively upon the upper and lower surfaces of the spring 9. The projecting screw threaded ends of the bolts 20 are engaged by suitable fastening devices, preferably nuts 22.

For the purpose of maintaining the tongue a normally in a horizontal position and to permit the tongue to be either raised or lowered as will be necessary when starting up a steep grade or dumping a load and restoring the tongue to a horizontal position when a level is reached, I have provided my improved connecting means which cooperates with both the clamping means and the resilient supporting means. The connecting means in this instance includes an elongated liat bar 23 one end of which is bent upwardly to provide a hook 2% while the opposite end is bent in an opposite direction to provide an open retaining loop 25. This bar is placed on the upper surface of the tongue and securedin intimate contact therewith throughthe medium ofthe clamping strap 18, the bent portion of which straddles the bar 23, while the hook 24 abuts the strap 18. The loop 25 is extended slightly beyond the inner end of the tongue and is engaged by one end of a coil spring 26, the opposite end of which is connected to a loop 27 which is in turn connected to the spring 9. The springs 26 and 9 are of a different degree of resiliency and are connected so that the action of one modifies the action of the other. spring 26 is such that when it cooperates with the spring 9 and the clamping means,

the tongue will be normally held in a horizontal position yet the tongue maybe either raised or lowered against the tension of the springs, the spring 26 also serving to absorb shock transmitted to the spring 9.

The operation of my invention is as follows:

The tension of the springs 9 and 26 is such that the tongue is normally"maintained in a horizontal position. Should the tongue be either raised or lowered when the v vehicle is ascending a steep incline or when the load of material is being dumpedas-soon as the vehicle reaches a level incline or after the load has been dumped, the springs 26 and 9 will act upon the tongue to cause it to position and reduce the friction to a mini mum. The'angular positioning of the tongue with respect to the vehicle can be varied to The tension of the,

suit the height of the draft animals by ad justing the straps l7 and 18 and nuts 16 and 19 on the screw threaded ends 14:. These parts being adjusted upwardly to lower the tongue and downwardly to raise the tongue. Although I have'shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I desire to be understood that I am not to be limited to the exact details shown, however, I desire that great stress be laidupon'the peculiar cooperation and arrangement of the resilient supporting means, the clamping means and the connecting means between the supporting and clamping means -cooperating therewith for providing the efliciient spring tongue support. I

From the above description taken 5 connection with the accompanying drawings, it can easily 'be seen that I have provided a device that is simple in construction, containing but a few simple parts that can be cheaply manufactured and assembled and when assembled can be placed upon the market and sold at aminiimuncost.

It will be understood that the above descriptionand accompanying drawings com- 1 my invention.

I claim a 1. In a tongue support, the combination with an axle and a tongue pivotally mounted with respect to the axle, of a pair of springs of different degrees-of resiliency, said springs including coil and leafzsprings, one of which is pivotally connectedito'the tongue and slidably connected to the axle, while the otheris connected -to 'the tongue and to the first mentioned spring, anda support between the tongue andthe leafzspring to provide a cantaliver'suspension.

2. In a tongue support, the combination with an axle and a tongue pivotally mounted with respect thereto, of .a' leaf spring, one end of which is pivotally secured to the tongue, the other end of the aspringibeing slidably connected to the axle, a support secured to the tongue and connected 'to the leaf spring intermediate its ends,:and.'a coil spring having a degree of r-esilienoy different from that of the leaf spring, saidlcoil spring having one end secured to tongue and its other end connected with the leaf spring between the support and the slidable connection with the axle.

B. In a tongue support, thecombination with an axle and a-tongue' pivotally mounted with respect thereto, of a leafraspring having one of its ends pivotallyis'ecure'd to the tongue and itsothertend slidably-connected tothe axle, .a coil spring connected to the tongue and to the leaf spring adja- In testimony whereof I afiix my signature cent its slidzlilbly cgnnected end, e251 mealns in presence of two witnesses.

to support t e lea s rin interm iate t e coil spring connectio li 215d the pivoted se- JOHN PENN curement, said means operating further to Witnesses:

limit the leaf spring movement at which 13. F. SPIGEB,

time the spring acts as a cantaliver. GEO. W. THOMAS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

